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Lisbon, the Best City for Christmas Shopping

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21 November 2017

The British Newspaper “The Guardian” has chosen Lisbon as the best European City for this year’s Christmas Shopping. The Portuguese Capital came ahead of other Cities, well known for their Holiday Spirit, like Lille, Munich, Ghent and Copenhagen.

Lisbon may not have the traditional snow, but more than makes up for it in other ways that give it a very particular holiday spirit, different from other cities. The newspaper highlights the “scent of chestnuts” that “fills the air”; “concerts… held in churches” and how the City “sparkles” with all the lighting in the streets, particularly a “massive tree in Praça do Comércio”.

The fact that the “festivities feel refreshingly uncommercialised” is also mentioned. Not that it stops the author from recommending a few local shops, the great majority of which are family owned local businesses like “Luvaria Ulisses”, a glove shop; “Chocolataria Equador” or “Conserveira de Lisboa” that sells traditional Portuguese fish preserves in tin cans.

“Bolo-rei”, the most traditional pastry for this season, like the one baked at Confeitaria Nacional (present in Riyadh) also features among the recommendations alongside “filhoses”, a fried delicacy. For a Christmas Eve Supper in Portuguese Style, Codfish, the dish most beloved by the Portuguese, especially during the Christmas Season, could not be left out.

Christmas Lights in Praça do Comércio, Lisbon (2013).

Taken from the Website of the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, www.cm-lisboa.pt.

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